


Sun

by BlackKat13 (orphan_account)



Series: Stages of A Storm [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Age manipulations, Establishing relationships, F/M, Future Canonical Character Death, Kakashi Gaiden, M/M, Minor Character Death, One-Sided Relationship, Romance, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-26
Updated: 2012-07-26
Packaged: 2017-11-10 18:39:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/469437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/BlackKat13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Everyone called him the Sun of Konoha without thinking twice about it, but very few knew how true that statement was, especially for one Kakashi Hatake."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sun

 

Minato Namikaze was, without a doubt, the endless sun of Konoha.

 

So many people called him that thoughtlessly. They would just blurt it out casually in conversations with him, or bring it up in discussions they had with others. It wasn't hard to figure out why, either; what other phrase could possibly describe the sun-kissed male? The most obvious reasons were his hair of the purest gold and eyes of the bluest skies, as more than one of his many admirers had pointed out. It was like someone had taken the sun and sewn it into his skin painlessly, like it belonged there.

 

Those who actually knew him and had conversations with the blond said there was more to it than simply his looks; it was his smile. Even the tensest of situations could be brightened and eased with one of his carefree, loving smiles, and more than once did that smile alone result in new, long-lasting friendships. It was rare that Minato didn't have that smile. It was a permanent fixture upon his face, and those who saw him without it would try anything in their power to draw that smile bak out once more.

 

It was those who Minato loved, and those who truly loved him, however that fully understood just how much like the sun he could be, and just how much truth and power that statement held.

 

Kakashi Hatake was one of these people.

 

As he watched his sensei talk with his other two teammates about how practice today had gone, what they had improved upon, what still needed work, Kakashi could tell you all the other ways that his sensei was the sun that no one else even knew It wasn't just how he looked, or the way he smiled. There was so much more to it than that.

 

It was the way that others who were lost and alone in the raging winds and rains of the would could be pulled into his warmth effortlessly. Once you were taken in by the blond prodigy, there was no escaping, not that you would even want to. That was the glory of it. He took in those who had no reason to trust, to care, those who had been cast aside to die in the storms of death and blood, and made them feel important. He gave them someone to put their trust in, to believe in.

 

Kakashi had been one of those people. Hell, he still was -- his sensei was his everything. He was the reason that people looked at him with the respect a prodigy deserved and not with the shame of being the son of a coward and a betrayer. His sensei was the sun because the light he gave to Kakashi had saved him. He became the center of Kakashi's entire world without trying, without even being aware.

 

"Kakashi."

 

Kakashi snapped out of his thoughts to notice that his other two teammates had already left, and cerulean eyes were watching him patiently. He hummed in response, feeling a little embarrassed at being caught like this.

 

"One would think you were trying to memorize my good looks," his sensei began teasingly, that bright smile lighting up his face, "but even that doesn't take twenty minutes. What were you thinking so hard about?"

 

Kakashi just shrugged nonchalantly. He knew better than to say it was nothing. That was one of the other problems with having the sun around you all of the time; it made hiding in the shade pointless. He knew he couldn't lie. He eventually decided on a partial truth. "I was thinking about our team. This was my last official practice."

 

"You don't think I noticed?" his sensei asked. The look he gave to Kakashi told him that his sensei knew that he wasn't telling the whole truth, but was allowing it to pass for now. "My Kashi is finally a Jounin, and you're only sixteen!" There was praise that didn't need words in Minato's voice as he approached, taking a seat next to Kakashi in the grass. "You realize, though, that we aren't going to be the same team without you, right?"

 

"You say that like I won't be doing missions with you," Kakashi pointed out, but his mask wrinkled in a way that showed he was smiling despite himself. He never openly acknowledged his sensei's compliments anymore, having long since tried to get rid of his arrogance, but he couldn't deny the way it felt.

 

"Sure, but not as many," the blond yielded.

 

Deciding to change the topic, Kakashi got to his feet, dusting himself off. "Want to go get some ramen, sensei? To celebrate our last practice with you as my teacher?"

 

"Ah, so that's what this is really about," the blond replied slyly, his blue eyes glinting deviously. "You're just going to miss being able to hide behind your teacher."

 

"Who said I ever needed to hide behind you? You're the one who's going to miss nagging on your favorite student."

 

"You forget that I still have Obtio and Rin."

 

"Oh?" Kakashi asked innocently, eyebrows arched like he had genuinely forgotten his teammates. "You don't nag on them the same way. It'll drive you insane, sensei."

 

Minato shook his head with a small smile as the pair began making their way towards the village's favorite ramen shop. "I'll just have to nag on you in your free time. Just to get it out of my system and keep myself sane."

 

Kakashi stared. "You wouldn't."

 

"Then don't give me the idea next time, Kashi."

 

If anyone else would have said something like that to him, Kakashi would have glared or even made threats, but this was Minato, his sun, and even when his sensei nagged him on his downtime [which he did already, but he had always thought that that was a team thing], he couldn't get angry enough to stay angry long enough to glare.

 

"So you're getting your ideas from your students now? Are you already having your midlife crisis, sensei?" Kakashi asked, his tone still light. "I don't think even _I_ could handle that."

 

" _What_? I would never let kids make my decisions for me!"

 

This was normal for them; just the two of them and their playful and witty banter. It didn't really even matter to Kakashi if they never ended up at the ramen shop because he honestly thought that if his sensei would not have led them there, they could have just wandered the streets and talked. Kakashi never would have noticed the time going by.

 

"I think being sixteen kind of vetoes the whole 'kid' thing."

 

A hand ruffled Kakashi's hair in a gesture that was Kakashi didn't even think twice about. He scowled slightly up at his sensei, meeting those pools of endless blue, which seemed to have a far away look in them for a moment. "…No, I suppose you're not," Minato said pensively. "I guess that means I'm getting old, ne?"

 

"Don't worry, Minato-sensei." Kakashi saw his sensei's eyes sharpen and look down at his student, confusion etched there. Kakashi swatted the man's hand away playfully, pleased with the way Minato's hand hovered in the air, as if his teacher wasn't sure what to do with it, or when it had moved. "You'll never be that old to me. After all, I'm the one with grey hair already."

 

"It suits you," Minato replied smoothly, moving his forgotten hand to rest on his hip. "I couldn't see your hair any other color. It wouldn't match your old man soul." Kakashi crinkled his nose at this, but Minato's laughter was entirely too infectious; he was chuckling along in no time at all.

 

The pair ducked under the white curtains of the shop, greeted by gregarious laughter and the genial glow of the lights within. Kakashi moved to take a seat while Minato chatted with a few friends of his who intercepted him on the way into the ramen stall, and the teen quietly ordered for the pair, happy to be outside of the center of attention. It wasn't that he didn't like talking to people, per se, but he just enjoyed talking to smaller groups. Besides, watching Minato's eyes crinkle and spark with excitement as he congratulated one of his friends on something or other [the detail didn't really matter to Kakashi, so he wasn't paying all that much attention,] made him content enough.

 

The Jounin frowned to himself as one of the shop workers brought him the two bowls, giving him a smile of pity that he couldn't just figure out. She snuck a glance to Minato before she turned back to Kakashi. "You're Hatake Kakashi, aren't you?"

 

He blinked. "Uh, yeah."

 

"I figured," she answered. He could tell by the way she bit at her bottom lip that she was nervous. "Namikaze-san speaks of you often when he comes here. The others always teased him, asking where the moon was, but I didn't get it." Kakashi could only stare at her. Moon? What was she even talking about? "I do now, though. It must be in the hair," she mumbled, making an awkward gesture to his head. Her motion lacked self-confidence, though, and she doubted herself, quickly pulling her arm back to her chest.

 

"I haven't seen you around here before." It was more of a bored statement than a question.

 

"Oh, yeah, I am. Teuchi's been getting entire droves of customers, so he, uh, asked me if I could help him--"

 

" ** _Setsu!_** _Hurry up!_ We got lots of hungry customers waiting!" Teuchi called from further back within the shops kitchen, and the girl visibly blanched. She gave Kakashi a quick, tight smile.

 

"I have to go, I'm sorry. Tell Namikaze-san that it was nice getting to finally meet you!"

 

Kakashi blinked, dazed by the girl's words as she shuffled away. _What did she mean, 'finally meet me'?_ Kakashi's brow furrowed, troubled by the thought. Did his sensei really talk about him that much? It seemed absolutely ridiculous -- even if he was bragging to the other teachers about students. [That had been known to happen, especially when alcohol was involved.] 

 

He was only brought back into the realm of the living once he felt a hand ruffling his hair once more and the main in question took a seat next to him. "How did you know that I liked shio ramen?"

 

Rolling his shoulders in a shrug, Kakashi pulled down his mask. "I've eaten with you enough times to figure it out by now."

 

They ate for the most part in silence, enjoying their meal after a long day of pushing their physical limits, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Actually, most people in the village assumed that Minato was a chatterbox, always trying to fill in the silence with his humor, but it wasn't the case with those close to him. He didn't force conversation with Kakashi because it just naturally flowed, starting and pausing, but never completely stopped it only lulled.

 

Eventually, once Kakashi had finished most of his bowl and situated his mask over his face once again, he glanced over to the blond, seemingly oblivious of his student as he slurped his noodles. "..I'm going to miss the team," he said finally, not sure where the words had exactly come from.

 

Minato looked up at him, brows knitted together before emotions [mostly concern, from what Kakashi could tell] rippled in the sea of blue. "I know. Obtio and Rin are going to miss you, too. You know that, even if Obito won't outright admit it." When Kakashi didn't answer, the bowl and chopsticks were forgotten, and the blond turned in his seat to face his student. "Kakashi, if you're worried about being a Jounin--"

 

"I'm not."

 

"Oh?" Minato raised one eyebrow skeptically. "You know, it's alright if you are. Even I was a little restless about my first few Jounin missions. Everyone is."

 

"I can handle a few harder missions. You know that."

 

"I do."

 

"Then what reason do I have to be afraid?"

 

"You tell me."

 

_It's not what you think._ "Minato-sensei, it's not the position…"

 

"Then what is it?"

 

There were a thousand ways that the silver-haired teen wanted to answer that question. _"Because you won't be there"_ was definitely one of the top reasons. _"Because you aren't my teacher anymore"_. _"Because I feel like I'm going to fail without you guiding me". "Because I'm afraid that there will be no one that I trust to help me if things go wrong"_ were some of the others. _"I don't want to disgrace you if I fail". "I don't want to die". "Will I be able to make you proud?"._ Kakashi managed to keep his expression neutral from years of practice.

 

It didn't fool Minato. Kakashi's eyes widened as he was turned towards his sensei, hands on both of his shoulders holding him there. He could get free, he knew, if he wanted. The grip was just enough to let him know that Minato was _there_. "Kashi, tell me. You're never this quiet, and you've been like this all day. If you're really that troubled over this promotion, I could have them put you back on the team and--"

 

"I'm going to be alone." It was the most truth he could get himself to say.

 

"Kashi, no, you're not. You're going to have a team--"

 

"But not one that I know," Kakashi interjected sharply, turning in his teacher's grip to look away from him. That gaze, that stupid, vulnerable gaze of his was just too much. It made him feel childish, like everything that he said was foolish. He knew, though, that these fears were real. His entire body was tense, and he balled his hands into fists to try to stop them from shaking. Why was he suddenly so angry? "Not one that I trust."

 

_Not you._

__

To say that Kakashi froze was an understatement as he was pulled into a hug. He was startled, but even more than that -- he was afraid that his heart was about to explode into flames and his stomach was going to flutter out of his throat. The other's words were not helping, either. "I want to be able to tell you, Kashi, that I'll always be there with you on every mission, but I won't be." _How did he know that I meant him?_ "And I know that it's going to be hard for you to trust anyone else, but you have to. You have to, because if you don't, and you end up getting hurt or even _killed_ \--" _Did his voice just break?_ "I don't care if the entire town is talking about me being the next Hokage. If you die, I will hunt down the men who killed you and _make them pay_. You need to trust your teammates because teamwork is what will stop you from becoming another casualty. Do you understand?" 

 

"They.. You're going to be the next Hokage?" he asked, dumbfounded.

 

"Kakashi, _do you understand_?"

 

"When did that rumor start? Why wasn't I to--"

 

" ** _Kakashi_ , **_stop avoiding this!"_ He didn't want to look at his sensei, but the tremors in Minato's voice drew his gaze as the older man held him out at arm's length. An invisible hand crushed the air out of his lungs and dug it's frostbitten claws into the teen's heart. He didn't want to acknowledge the glassy look in his teacher's eyes -- he told himself that it was frustration that made him look like this. Nothing else. That's why his voice, although he wasn't yelling, was a strident rasp. " _Answer_ me! **_Do. you. understand?"_**

 

"Damn it.. _Damn_ it.. Sensei, I… Yes, I understand," he murmured feebly, reaching a calloused, rough hand up to wipe the other's eyes. The silver-haired teen's smile was faint, but it was still there. "Anger and tears aren't really your style, sensei…" Kakashi didn't even care if anyone saw that display; no one glanced t them, so he assumed that they were giving them as much privacy as one could. For that, he was appreciative. He was certain that he was too raw from all of this to be polite enough to stop himself from hurting someone.

 

However, nothing compared with the feeling that washed over him when his sensei finally smiled, and even laughed. He couldn't put a name on it if he had to, but he just knew that it made everything inside of him feel instantly lighter. The icy tendrils gripping onto him melted under the heat of the sun, and he was just left with a light-headed giddiness. "Good."

 

"…Minato-sensei?"

 

"Yes, Kashi?"

 

"You can let go now. I'm not going anywhere."

 

"Oh, sorry!"

 

"So," Kakashi began once they were settled again, a mischievous, yet interested glint in his eyes, "what's this about you becoming Hokage?"

**Author's Note:**

> The second chapter should be up later this week.
> 
> I'm looking forward to series, so I hope you guys stick with me.


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